All You Need To Know About Journal Writing: What It Is, How To Write A Journal, Benefits And Prompts

December 10, 2021

Journal writing is the process of recording personal insights, reflections, thoughts and questions on specific or individual topics.

Journal can be a book in which a person keeps a daily record about anything or everything.

The best example of a journal is 'A Daily Diary', where you keep a record of daily events and your thoughts.

Journaling is simply the act of writing informally as a regular practice. Journal writing takes many forms and serves different purposes, some creative and some personal.

Writers keep journals as a place to record their thoughts, practice their craft, and list ideas.

Being a writer, having a journal is even more useful. This way, writers practice how to organize their thoughts in the right symmetry to make their writing pieces effective, helpful and resonant.

I have been journaling for so many years. This is how I remember the travels I've taken, the experiences I've enjoyed and the litter boxes I've cleaned.

Let me share with you a short story of how I started my journaling journey.

This is when I was reading a chapter of my 10th grade English book about a girl, Anne Frank, who has a habit of writing her daily activities and thoughts in her diary. Later her diary became one of the world's famous books. It inspired me how this little girl was able to keep her thoughts and feelings in her diary even during the war situation in her area. The popularity of her writing works was inevitable. She has engraved all her true feelings and emotions so beautifully on the pages of her diary which has immense power to touch the hearts of millions.

I became so infatuated with the idea of keeping regular records of my daily life that I still love this journaling thing to this day. I began to enjoy the process of sharing everything that came to my mind in my journal. I cannot tell you how much it has helped me become a better person in every way.

Things to keep in mind for effective journal writing: -

Date your entry so that you remember when a particular event happened and in the future, you can take a look at the past and be proud of yourself for how far you have come in life and how much better you become as compared to your past self.

Try to be 100% authentic with yourself when writing a journal. Remember, no one is here to judge you. You are allowed to express your true feelings and thoughts.

Don’t limit yourself while writing a journal. Let your pen’s ink flow on the paper of your journal book as long as you want. The ultimate aim of journal writing is to improve your well-being. So allow yourself to be flexible here.

The place where you do journaling should be chosen carefully and that place should be peaceful. First of all, close your eyes and allow yourself to go deep into your thoughts, feel them from inside and then open your eyes. Ask yourself some questions that arise from within you or simply write down what comes to your mind.

Journal writing time should be according to your mood because some people likes to write early in the morning before the start of the day, some like to write late at night after spending the whole day and some of us write randomly.

Another thing about the journal is that it should be small enough that you can easily carry it anywhere in your handbag and big enough that the words you write are visible.

Some great journal writing prompts: -

These are some of the journal prompts that I personally use to improve the quality of my life in all terms.

What new things am I going to do in the coming week or month to improve my mental and physical health, my finances and my relationships?

What thoughts and beliefs are holding me back from making my dreams come true?

How do my higher self looks and feel like? What qualities does he/she hold within him/her?

Where am I in 5 years and how am I looking, talking and thinking?

Things that make me happy.

Things I am thankful for in my life.

In what areas of my life can I do better?

What and who inspires me and why?

How can I make my life more interesting?

Top 10 lessons I learned from my life.

What boundaries have I set for myself and others, and how is this helping me?

What old patterns that I am still repeating are preventing me from making my life more meaningful and fulfilling?

Write in detail about everything you want to be reminded of and whatever affected you. Go back to the root cause of why something affected you and how you can heal.

Write in detail about the beautiful experiences you have had in your life.

Write about your dreams and goals.

15 Benefits of Journal Writing:

Journaling helps to organize thoughts and make them worthy of consultation.

Writing a journal regularly enhances memory and inspires creativity.

It can help give you clarity about your dreams and goals. In addition, you can track your progress in achieving your goal.

Keeping a journal helps you to record your thoughts like you just thought something and wrote in your diary, this will help you to re-read it and think again later on.

Journaling helps you control thoughts and improves mood by helping to calm your mind. When you get your worries down on paper, there is less stress in the mind.

It helps you find solutions to your problems, fears and worries. Many times, it happens that when we write about our problems and concerns, we get their solution only through our conscience.

Journal writing provides an opportunity for positive self-talk and identifies negative ones.

Journaling reduces stress as it has been proven that writing down all our feelings (bad or good) on paper gives us relief and reduces the secretion of stress hormones in our bodies.

Journaling also prevents damage to physical, mental and emotional health.

It is also said that journaling also improves immune function, as being less stressed is related to our internal health.

It has been scientifically proven that keeping a journal strengthens our emotional functions.

As you write down all your thoughts and feelings on a day-to-day basis, it helps you become more self-aware.

For people with anxiety disorders, journaling can be a way to help clear and calm the mind. Through writing, a person can release suppressed emotions, escape from everyday stressors and let go of negative thoughts.

Taking your thoughts out of your mind and writing them down in a journal can also help you conquer overthinking.

Research shows that expressive writing can increase self-awareness, ultimately reducing depressive symptoms, anxious thoughts, and perceived stress.

The best journals and planners to fit every imaginable mood:

1. Fearless Boss Social media business journal/planner

This is not just another planner. It's a business journal planner designed specifically for the girl boss. It comes with 200 Stickers.

2. Continue Knowing Each Other the Married Couple Journal

Continue knowing each other is a 59-communication prompt journal for married couples to keep the lines of communication open between married couples. Why not continue how you started.

3. Self Love - Loving Myself on Purpose

The secret sauce of self love that’s taking the world by the storm starts with this 52 prompt self loving prompts to help you increase your self love.

8 1/2 X 11
52 self love journaling prompts with line spaces underneath for the journal or to jot their thoughts and ideas
Four beautiful quote pages on self love to inspire and challenge
goals sheet
Goal blocker sheet

4. Prayer Meditation And Fasting and Lent Journal